By John Lee. China expert Simone Van Nieuwenhuizen has written an opinion piece for The Diplomat, a foreign affairs journal that covers events in Asia. She argues that it would be in China's interests to do more for Iraq. In the piece, Van Niewenhuizen notes that not only has China been threatened by the Islamic State of […]
By John Lee. The Pentagon--home to the US Department of Defence--has announced that there are now a total of 7 countries arming Kurdish forces in Iraq. A spokesman said those nations were Britain, Canada, Albania, Croatia, Denmark, Italy and France. Germany may soon follow. In a sign of the sudden onset of the crisis, a […]
By Patrick Schmidt. Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani has announced coming reforms for the Kurdish security forces, most famous for the Peshmerga. The reforms would bring all units under a single unified command. In the past, the Minister of the Peshmerga did not have control over all troops, and the force was in some cases […]
By John Lee. The BBC's Jim Muir has reported from the front lines at Bakarta in the Kurdish region of Iraq, where Kurdish Peshmerga troops have retaken villages lost to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Interestingly, Muir reports from a hill on the front lines that the Kurds seized from ISIL, […]
By John Lee. It has been the site of a dramatic siege since the June offensive of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) which seized large swathes of northern Iraq. Baiji refinery was vital for refined fuel products for much of the north of the country, and initially the Iraqi army unit […]
The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, is seriously alarmed by reports regarding the inhuman conditions of the inhabitants of the northern town of Amerli, besieged and cut off from food and water supplies by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group for almost […]
From AFP. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq's Mahdi Army fought US troops to the death in past years, but now some members of the rebranded Shiite militia say they could do with a little help from their old foe:
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In Northern Iraq, US airstrikes have hit targets held by the Islamic State group near Mosul Dam. But well-armed Islamic State fighters appear to be changing tactics slowing down the gains made by […]
By Patrick Schmidt. The Kurdish Minister of Natural Resources, Ashti Hawrami (pictured) announced that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has sold 7 million barrels of oil on the international market. He remains confident that the KRG will win the ability to sell oil in the US markets. Currently, the KRG produces 300,000 barrels of oil per […]
By John Lee. The Associated Press has reported recently on the northern Iraqi town of Amerli where some 15,000 members of Iraq's Shi'a Turkmen minority are cut off from food and water supplies and besieged on all sides by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters. If ISIL are able to enter the town it is […]
By Barbara Slavin for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. US officials have begun discussions with local leaders in Iraq’s Ninewa province about how to recapture the city of Mosul in the wake of the successful operation to recover control of Mosul […]
By John Lee. Iraqi counter-terrorism experts have announced that the recent increase in US air strikes in the Mosul dam area (north of Mosul) have caused two waves of ISIL retreats. Following the beheading of American journalist James Foley, the Islamic State issued a warning to the US that further strikes would see the execution […]
